Disclaimer: He never writes, he never calls. . .
Just a Shard detector
Spring had come to Feudal Japan when Kagome poked her head out of the Bone Eater's Well. She was mildly surprised not to encounter an irate half- demon upon her arrival, since she was once again running quite late. But, as she felt the warm breeze gently lift her hair around her, she found she was completely alone. Very odd.
Finally swinging her legs over onto the lip of the well, after dumping the large, oversized yellow pack she carried onto the ground next to it, she lifted her head to the sky to enjoy the peaceful moment. Moments like this were few and far between, and would no doubt come to an abrupt halt when her presence was discovered by said irate hanyou or by an highly strung little ball of fur who always eagerly awaited her return.
As her eyes lifted to the intense blue of the April sky, they also caught site of several whispy, ghostlike creatures, wafting along on the breeze. 'So, not so surprising that he's not here. He's with Kikyo.' She thought to herself glumly. 'And I was in such a good mood, too.'
Not wanting to witness Inuyasha in a passionate embrace with his dead lover, she resolutely kept to the path to the village, eyes fixed forward, refusing to look off into the forest or turn at any sound.
But the day was clear and calm, and in the forest, voices carry. Couple that the fact that Kagome was terrified that Kikyo would take advantage of her absence to drag Inuyasha off to hell with her, and she felt her resolve weakening. Still, she might have made it if that rather than being hidden among the trees as they usually were when they met, the pair in question hadn't been right in her path reroute to the village, not 200 feet from the well. What could she do? Kagome quickly turned to go in the other direction. She wasn't thinking about where she was going; maybe home, maybe just anywhere but where she currently was. But she couldn't help but hear Kikyo's monotone floating across the clearing.
"Has this girl become more to you than I?"
Kagome rolled her eyes, 'Good gods, does she ever say anything new?' But in spite of her resolve to leave, she still paused to hear his response.
When she heard his deep voice, it was hesitant, flustered, "Kikyo. . ."
"Answer me, Inuyasha. Do you love that human girl more than me?"
Kagome couldn't help herself. She peeked over her shoulder to see the priestess, now right in front of Inuyasha, cupping his face with one hand.
Inuyasha just stood there. What could he say? 'Yes! Yes! YES! I do love her. With all my being! She is my best friend, my angel, my reason for waking up every morning. Her face, her scent, her smile. Yes, she means more to me than you do ~ What we had once was nothing compared with what I feel for Kagome. She cares for me, trusts me, takes care of me. Likes me for who I am.' That always amazed him. He yelled at her, insulted her, made her angry all the time, yet she still liked him. He shook his head.
He couldn't say any of that. His overwhelming guilt wouldn't let him, even if he could have admitted it out loud. Kikyo held that guilt over him with an iron fist, even now that she knew he had nothing to do with her death. And besides, she had already tried several times to kill Kagome. How would she react if he admitted his love for Kagome to her?
He sighed heavily, and forced his voice to be soothing, "Kikyo, it's not like that. You know I need her to find the jewel shards. I protect her because I need her to help me finish the jewel. So I can kill Naraku and avenge what he did to us. She's my shard detector. Nothing more."
Kikyo let her lips curve a little. "Don't forget that, Inuyasha. You belong to me. I will be patient a bit longer, but your quest is nearing it's end. You will come with me soon."
That was enough for Kagome. She'd heard and seen enough. She didn't feel bad about being there; after all, why should she? She was doing what she was supposed to do, if a little late. No, she'd be damned if she was going to feel guilty about having witnessed their little encounter.
But she just didn't want to see him right now. She just couldn't handle it. He might yell at her for invading his privacy. Or worse, she wouldn't be able to stop the tears from falling and he would look at her with those golden eyes of his, filled with concern, and she would fall apart. He might even apologize, but it didn't mean anything anymore. It would make things even worse. After what she had just witnessed, she knew the truth. She guessed she had always known, no matter what she wanted to believe. He hadn't said anything she didn't know already, but his words still stabbed. He may as well have used his claws to tear her heart out and cut it into so many ribbons. In fact, it would have hurt less. She knew she was just his shard finder ~ a tool he needed to get the job done. Still, in the three years they had spent together, she thought they had grown closer. She thought of him as her best friend. A best friend who was a loudmouthed, arrogant jerk and who, perversely, her heart had chosen to fall in love with, but a best friend none-the-less. Apparently, she wasn't even that to him.
On the other hand, she wasn't just going to go running back to her era again, sobbing into her poor, abused pillow and feeling sorry for herself. 'Damn him for taking me for granted! And shame on me for thinking I was anything more than a tool to him. It was my own stupidity! If he prefers a cold, dead, hate filled corpse, than he's welcome to it!' She needed to think. She was sick of this whole scenario, and she wasn't going to play anymore. She angrily dashed the tears forming in her eyes away, shouldered her pack, turned around and headed resolutely back toward the village.
Brushing past the parting couple, she gave them no notice ~ just kept walking. She did, of course, notice them. But she was concentrating on biting her tongue, which wanted very badly to say, "Good afternoon, Kikyo. Lovely weather. You're looking almost lifelike today."
"Kagome. . . I . . .I,"
"Oh, don't mind me! Go on with whatever you were doing." Kagome hurried past the surprised couple. Or at least Inuyasha was surprised. As usual, he had completely failed to notice her presence since Kikyo was there. Kikyo, on the other hand; Kagome was fairly certain the priestess had known she was there from the beginning.
Kagome kept walking, thoughts warring within her, eyes fixed on the road ahead. Moments later, as expected, she felt his presence next to her. Still, she kept walking, kept her gaze averted.
"Kagome. . .I. . .,"
"You already said that. Back there. Among other things."
"I can explain. . ."
"Can you?" She stopped and turned to face him momentarily. She cocked her head and looked inquiringly at him, but then turned back to the road and kept walking. "Don't bother. It's not necessary."
"Kagome."
She could feel it. The tears were coming. She promised herself, dammit! She was NOT going to cry. She'd cried enough over him, and she wasn't going to do it anymore. She might not be able to do anything about loving him, but she was not going to be some sad, pathetic, loved starved nit-wit. She would have dignity.
"Inuyasha, just leave it. And just leave me alone. I have some thinking to do."
Inuyasha hated the cold, hollow sound in her voice. She sounded like Kikyo. Even her scent was dark and sad. And for some reason, her saying that she had thinking to do brought a chill up his spine. "What do you have to think about?"
"My job description."
Just a Shard detector
Spring had come to Feudal Japan when Kagome poked her head out of the Bone Eater's Well. She was mildly surprised not to encounter an irate half- demon upon her arrival, since she was once again running quite late. But, as she felt the warm breeze gently lift her hair around her, she found she was completely alone. Very odd.
Finally swinging her legs over onto the lip of the well, after dumping the large, oversized yellow pack she carried onto the ground next to it, she lifted her head to the sky to enjoy the peaceful moment. Moments like this were few and far between, and would no doubt come to an abrupt halt when her presence was discovered by said irate hanyou or by an highly strung little ball of fur who always eagerly awaited her return.
As her eyes lifted to the intense blue of the April sky, they also caught site of several whispy, ghostlike creatures, wafting along on the breeze. 'So, not so surprising that he's not here. He's with Kikyo.' She thought to herself glumly. 'And I was in such a good mood, too.'
Not wanting to witness Inuyasha in a passionate embrace with his dead lover, she resolutely kept to the path to the village, eyes fixed forward, refusing to look off into the forest or turn at any sound.
But the day was clear and calm, and in the forest, voices carry. Couple that the fact that Kagome was terrified that Kikyo would take advantage of her absence to drag Inuyasha off to hell with her, and she felt her resolve weakening. Still, she might have made it if that rather than being hidden among the trees as they usually were when they met, the pair in question hadn't been right in her path reroute to the village, not 200 feet from the well. What could she do? Kagome quickly turned to go in the other direction. She wasn't thinking about where she was going; maybe home, maybe just anywhere but where she currently was. But she couldn't help but hear Kikyo's monotone floating across the clearing.
"Has this girl become more to you than I?"
Kagome rolled her eyes, 'Good gods, does she ever say anything new?' But in spite of her resolve to leave, she still paused to hear his response.
When she heard his deep voice, it was hesitant, flustered, "Kikyo. . ."
"Answer me, Inuyasha. Do you love that human girl more than me?"
Kagome couldn't help herself. She peeked over her shoulder to see the priestess, now right in front of Inuyasha, cupping his face with one hand.
Inuyasha just stood there. What could he say? 'Yes! Yes! YES! I do love her. With all my being! She is my best friend, my angel, my reason for waking up every morning. Her face, her scent, her smile. Yes, she means more to me than you do ~ What we had once was nothing compared with what I feel for Kagome. She cares for me, trusts me, takes care of me. Likes me for who I am.' That always amazed him. He yelled at her, insulted her, made her angry all the time, yet she still liked him. He shook his head.
He couldn't say any of that. His overwhelming guilt wouldn't let him, even if he could have admitted it out loud. Kikyo held that guilt over him with an iron fist, even now that she knew he had nothing to do with her death. And besides, she had already tried several times to kill Kagome. How would she react if he admitted his love for Kagome to her?
He sighed heavily, and forced his voice to be soothing, "Kikyo, it's not like that. You know I need her to find the jewel shards. I protect her because I need her to help me finish the jewel. So I can kill Naraku and avenge what he did to us. She's my shard detector. Nothing more."
Kikyo let her lips curve a little. "Don't forget that, Inuyasha. You belong to me. I will be patient a bit longer, but your quest is nearing it's end. You will come with me soon."
That was enough for Kagome. She'd heard and seen enough. She didn't feel bad about being there; after all, why should she? She was doing what she was supposed to do, if a little late. No, she'd be damned if she was going to feel guilty about having witnessed their little encounter.
But she just didn't want to see him right now. She just couldn't handle it. He might yell at her for invading his privacy. Or worse, she wouldn't be able to stop the tears from falling and he would look at her with those golden eyes of his, filled with concern, and she would fall apart. He might even apologize, but it didn't mean anything anymore. It would make things even worse. After what she had just witnessed, she knew the truth. She guessed she had always known, no matter what she wanted to believe. He hadn't said anything she didn't know already, but his words still stabbed. He may as well have used his claws to tear her heart out and cut it into so many ribbons. In fact, it would have hurt less. She knew she was just his shard finder ~ a tool he needed to get the job done. Still, in the three years they had spent together, she thought they had grown closer. She thought of him as her best friend. A best friend who was a loudmouthed, arrogant jerk and who, perversely, her heart had chosen to fall in love with, but a best friend none-the-less. Apparently, she wasn't even that to him.
On the other hand, she wasn't just going to go running back to her era again, sobbing into her poor, abused pillow and feeling sorry for herself. 'Damn him for taking me for granted! And shame on me for thinking I was anything more than a tool to him. It was my own stupidity! If he prefers a cold, dead, hate filled corpse, than he's welcome to it!' She needed to think. She was sick of this whole scenario, and she wasn't going to play anymore. She angrily dashed the tears forming in her eyes away, shouldered her pack, turned around and headed resolutely back toward the village.
Brushing past the parting couple, she gave them no notice ~ just kept walking. She did, of course, notice them. But she was concentrating on biting her tongue, which wanted very badly to say, "Good afternoon, Kikyo. Lovely weather. You're looking almost lifelike today."
"Kagome. . . I . . .I,"
"Oh, don't mind me! Go on with whatever you were doing." Kagome hurried past the surprised couple. Or at least Inuyasha was surprised. As usual, he had completely failed to notice her presence since Kikyo was there. Kikyo, on the other hand; Kagome was fairly certain the priestess had known she was there from the beginning.
Kagome kept walking, thoughts warring within her, eyes fixed on the road ahead. Moments later, as expected, she felt his presence next to her. Still, she kept walking, kept her gaze averted.
"Kagome. . .I. . .,"
"You already said that. Back there. Among other things."
"I can explain. . ."
"Can you?" She stopped and turned to face him momentarily. She cocked her head and looked inquiringly at him, but then turned back to the road and kept walking. "Don't bother. It's not necessary."
"Kagome."
She could feel it. The tears were coming. She promised herself, dammit! She was NOT going to cry. She'd cried enough over him, and she wasn't going to do it anymore. She might not be able to do anything about loving him, but she was not going to be some sad, pathetic, loved starved nit-wit. She would have dignity.
"Inuyasha, just leave it. And just leave me alone. I have some thinking to do."
Inuyasha hated the cold, hollow sound in her voice. She sounded like Kikyo. Even her scent was dark and sad. And for some reason, her saying that she had thinking to do brought a chill up his spine. "What do you have to think about?"
"My job description."